Closures for bottles and the like



May 12, 1970 M. BRAUN cLosUREs FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 30. 1957 f6 J4 J7 zo ufl /4/4 lll 7% 5/ United States Patent O 3,511,403 CLOSURES FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE Morris Braun, Chicago, Ill., assignor to W. Braun Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Aug. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 664,490 Int. Cl. B65d 41 /04 U.S. Cl. 215--44 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container having a neck portion having external helical threads and a VVmating screw-type closure cap formed of resilient material, the continuity of the threads n the neck portion being interrupted at spaced points to form gaps and abutment shoulders adjacent the gaps. When the cap is screwed tightly on the neck portion the cooperating threads of rthe cap are deformed into the gaps in the threads of the neck portion to cooperate with the abutment shoulders to lock the cap against inadvertent displacement.

The present invention constitutes an improvement over my prior invention shown and described in Pat. No. 3,255,908.

SUMMARY -OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of this invention is the provision of a container having a neck portion with discontinuous threads and a screw-type cap closure therefor formed of resilient material and so arranged that when the cap is screwed tightly on to the neck portion the cap threads are extruded into the `gaps in the threads of the neck portion to lock the cap against inadvertent displacement.

-Other and further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description when the same is considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the neck portion of a container with a closure cap applied thereto in sealing engagement and with a portion of the cap broken away to show structural details;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional View taken substantially on line 3 3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a View similar to FIG. 2 but showing the cap applied loosely and not in sealing enga-gement with the neck portion;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary View similar to FIG. 2 but on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 6-6 of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing a modified form of closure cap.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates generally a neck portion of a container or bottle which may be formed of glass or any other suitable material. The neck portion is provided on its exterior surface with helical threads 12 generally triangular in cross-section. Each course of threads 12 is interrupted at two diametrically opposed points providing gaps 13 and 14 which in effect divide each course of threads into two substantially half threads. All of the gaps on one side of the neck portion are substantially in vertical registration. The leading end 16 of each half thread is tapered substantially as ICC seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 in two directions, that is with respect to width and height. Thus, the terminal portion of each leading end 16 substantially merges into the body of the neck portion.

The trailing end 17 of each half thread terminates in a full cross-section of the thread, as seen clearly in FIG. 6, and affords an abutment shoulder, as will be hereinafter described. Thus, on each side of the neck portion 10 a leading end 16 is disposed in confronting relation to a trailing end 17 of each course of threads. Preferably, the distance between the leading ends 16 and trailing ends 17 should be approximately 3/32 in., although it will be understood that the distance may vary depending upon the diameter of the neck portion and the cross-sectional size of the threads.

The aforedescribed neck portion 10 is intended to be used with a closure cap 20 of the type described in my Pat. No. 3,255,908. This cap may be molded of suitable organic plastic material, such as polyethylene, nylon, polyurethane, vinyl-type polymers, synthetic rubbers, any polyolen or other suitable materials which are resilient or flexible. As described in said patent, the top 21 of the cap is resilient or flexible and has a shape and thickness to permit flexing and the development of sealing flex-tensions with the mouth of the neck portion 10 when the cap is fully engaged. FIGS. 1 through 6 show one embodiment of the closure cap wherein the inner top surface 21 intended to engage the mouth of the neck portion is generally convex and constitutes a sector of a spherical shell. In the Imodified embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 7, the top portion 22 is substantially frusto-conical in form and the lip of the neck portion 10 of the container engages against the conical surface. In each embodiment of the closure cap continuous helical threads 23 are integrally molded on the inner side wall of the cylindrical shell.

In order to effect a sealing closure of the container, the cap 20 is applied to the neck portion 10 in the usual manner and FIG. 4 illustrates the relationship of the cap to the neck portion in loose condition, just prior to effecting a sealing engagement between the cap and the neck portion. Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that in this condition the threads 23 of the cap are in the form of one continuous helix and are not yet in any way distorted by engagement with the threads 12 of the neck portion. It will be apparent that because the leading ends of the half threads are tapered, engagement of the caps with the threaded neck portion is facilitated. However, after the cap 20 has been fully engaged on the neck portion and torque is applied to the cap in order to effect a seal between the mouth of the neck and the underside of the cap, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the threads 12 and 23 are caused to lbe stressed and since the threads 23 of the cap are resilient, these threads are caused to be deformed and will extrude or flow partially into the gaps 13 and 14 in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 6, thereby forming shoulders 24 `which cooperate with the shoulders 17 to lock the cap 20 on to the neck portion 10 `and prevent inadvertent reverse displacement of the cap relative to the neck portion.

It will be understood that the sealing engagement between the cap and neck portion will be maintained indefinitely so long as the cap threads are maintained under stress and in the condition illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. This condition, however, may be overriden by the application of a reverse torque to the cap so as to relieve the stresses on the threads and thereby permit the threads to return to normal condition, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

It will be understood that my invention also contemplates a reversal of parts in which the threads on the neck portion are resilient and the threads of the cap are more rigid and discontinuous.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided improved closure means for containers wherein inadvertent reverse displacement of the cap which would result in breaking the seal between the cap and the container mouth is effectively prevented.

It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made from the foregoing without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a body having a neck portion having an external helical thread with a constant pitch having at least one gap therein, a closure cap formed of resilient or exible material and having an internal continuous and uninterrupted helical thread of constant pitch adapted to cooperate with said external thread so that the cap is screwed into engagement with the neck portion, a portion of said internal thread adjacent said gap when said cap is threaded on said neck portion in sealing engagement therewith being deformed into said gap during said threading and preventing inadvertent reverse rotation of said cap relative to said neck portion.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which the external thread has a plurality of gaps arranged in vertical alinement.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 in which the external thread is triangular in cross-section.

4. The invention as defined in claim 2 in which successive gaps are diametrically disposed.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which the resilient or exible material is a polyolefin.

6. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which the deformation of the thread portion is overriden upon the application of reverse torque to said cap.

7. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which the inner top surface of the cap is generally convex and constitutes a sector of a spherical shell.

8. The invention as dened in claim 1 in which the top portion of the cap is substantially frusto-conical.

9. In combination, a body having a neck portion having an external helical thread with a constant pitch having a gap therein, and having a leading end and a trailing end on said thread adjacent said gap with the leading end tapered and with the trailing end forming a shoulder, a

closure cap formed of resilient material and having an internal continuous and uninterrupted helical thread with a constant pitch adapted to cooperate with said external thread so that the cap is screwed into engagement with the neck portion, a portion of said internal thread adjacent said shoulder when said cap is threaded on said neck portion in sealing engagement therewith being deformed to abut said shoulder during said threading and preventing inadvertent reverse rotation of said cap relative to said neck portion.

10. The invention as defined in claim 9 in which the external helical thread is divided into a plurality of segments with each segment having a leading end and a trailing end with each trailing end forming a shoulder.

11. In combination, a body having a neck portion having an external helical thread with a constant pitch, a closure cap having an internal continuous and uninterrupted helical thread of a constant pitch adapted to cooperate with said external thread so that the cap is screwed into engagement with the neck portion to effect sealing engagement of said cap with said neck portion, the thread on said cap being more resilient or flexible than the thread on the neck portion, the less resilient of said threads having a gap therein, a portion of said more resilient thread when said cap is threaded on said neck portion in sealing engagement being deformed into said gap during said threading to prevent inadvertent reverse rotation of said cap relative to said neck portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,435,978 4/1969 Wittwer 21S- 98 2,776,066 1/1957 Thornton 21S-44 2,827,193 3/1958 Martin 21S-43 2,947,431 -8/1960 Haynes 21S-9 3,255,908 6/1966 Braun 21S-43 DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 21S-98 

